Shaw Group exploring real estate options in Charlotte region

The Shaw Group Inc., the Louisiana-based company that moved its power group here several years ago, plans to consolidate its local operations over the next five years. It is looking for up to 350,000 square feet over time, with an initial need for 75,000 to 100,000 square feet by the end of 2012.

The company occupies space in two uptown office towers. Jack Glasgow of commercial real estate firm Mohr Partners Inc. is working with Shaw. He has notified brokers his client is exploring all options, including the airport area, uptown, north Charlotte, south Charlotte and Fort Mill.

In that notification, Glasgow hasn’t identified his client by name, and he declines to comment. But Shaw confirms it is looking at space in anticipation of future growth.

The company occupies about 280,000 square feet combined in the First Citizens Bank Plaza and the 121 West Trade building uptown. With several years remaining on its leases, Shaw has no immediate plans to exit those properties, spokeswoman Gentry Brann says.

It also has no expansions to announce in the immediate future. But Brann acknowledges the search for 75,000 to 100,000 square feet is tied to anticipated growth in Charlotte.

“We are always looking at the growth potential for the Power Group, and we are committed to Charlotte,” she says. “We are anticipating additional (contract) awards, and that will mean more people. And when we add engineering and support, that’s going to happen there.”

Brann describes the current inquiries about real estate as largely routine. “It’s essentially our HR and facilities guys making sure we know what’s available,” she says.

Shaw is considering existing buildings, facilities with adjacent land and build-to-suit projects.

The company was scheduled to tour its first properties today, including the NASCAR Plaza office building, according to real estate sources. NASCAR Plaza has 250,000 square feet available for lease.

Shaw announced late last year it would add 225 jobs to the 1,100 it already has in Charlotte to support a new nuclear development agreement with Toshiba Corp.

At the time, the company said more than 180 of those hires would be engineers with an average annual salary of nearly $95,000.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to increase the size of our staff here in what has become our nation’s New Energy Capital,” Power Group Chief Executive Clarence Ray said at the Charlotte Chamber’s annual meeting in November.

Shaw relocated the headquarters for its power unit, Shaw Power Group, to Charlotte in 2007. In November of that year, the company announced it would invest $35 million and add about 550 jobs to its Charlotte operation, which then consisted of 780 workers uptown and 165 employees at a facility in west Charlotte.

Shaw received a $12.67 million state incentives grant, but it is required to create the jobs called for under the agreement and sustain them in North Carolina for 10 years.

This week, the company disclosed financial results for its fiscal second quarter, and the power group reported gross profit of $72.6 million, up from $27.1 million a year earlier. The power unit is Shaw Group’s largest segment, accounting for half its revenue so far this year and almost 40% of its gross profits.

Shaw’s decision to move its power group to Charlotte is often viewed as the forerunner of the “New Energy Capital” initiative announced 18 months ago to make Charlotte a national hub for the energy industry.

Shaw’s local executives have historically been proponents of uptown, and a move away from the central business district would add more vacancy to a submarket that’s still recovering from the great recession.

According to Karnes Research Co., the uptown vacancy rate for office properties stood at 12.7% at the end of 2010, up from 8.8% a year earlier and 2.5% two years ago.

Shaw’s selection of Mohr Partners is a major coup for the firm locally. Mohr Partners is based in Dallas.

It expanded into Charlotte this year when First Commercial Real Estate Advisors signed a multi-year agreement with the company, which focuses on tenant representation.